L. S. Vygotsky on theater: from theatrical critique to the Psychology of the actor

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the various appearances of theater in the writings of L. S. Vygotsky. Starting with an overview of his early and still little explored production of theatrical criticism, we observe how theater gradually entered the field of psychology and came to be analyzed as a psychological problem. The analysis of this topic reveals an important shift in Vygotskian thought, i.e., a turn from objective to concrete psychology. With respect to Vygotsky’s aesthetic stance, the paper provides a commentary about the relations between art and society, an underlying topic for the cultural-historical perspective.